*Stocks were mixed, but generally little changed overnight. The Hang Seng was up two thirds of a percent, the Nikkei gained a quarter percent, Shanghai and Australia were up a slight fraction. European indexes are for the most part not far from unchanged with the Footsie and Dax both off a slight fraction. US stock futures are essentially unchanged.*In January, Foreign Direct Investment in China grew at a 23.4% annualized rate, well above the estimate for an increase of 17.2%.
*The final December reading of Japan’s Leading Economic Index was unrevised at 101.4, the highest result since last April.
*The February reading of Switzerland’s ZEW Survey of Expectations of Economic Growth increased to -17.2 from -18.4 in January, according to Credit Suisse. For perspectives sake this index was 52.5 a year ago.
*The January reading of the Consumer Price Index is due out at 7:30am CST. Headline CPI is expected to rise 0.3% on a month on month basis and the estimate for the Core CPI is +0.1% on the month. The annualized rates are forecast to be +1.6% and +0.9% respectively. Also due out at 7:30am is the weekly report on Initial Jobless Claims, it is expected to be 400k. The February reading of the Philly Fed Business Activity Index is due out at 9:00am CST, it is forecast to rise a couple of points from the month before to 21.0. The January reading of the Leading Economic Indicators will also be released at 9:00am, it is expected to be +0.2%.
*Fed Chairman Bernanke will join FDIC boss Bair and SEC boss Shapiro at 9:00am CST to testify on the Dodd/Frank regulations before the Senate Banking Committee. Other Fed speakers on the calendar today include: Governor Raskin at 9:00am CST on consumer credit; Atlanta Fed’s Lockhart will talk about Ireland and US recoveries at 11:00am CST; Chicago Fed’s Evans speaks about the economy at 11:30am CST; Dallas Fed’s Fisher talks about the Fed and the economy at 12:10pm CST; and KC Fed boss Hoenig will testify on agriculture at 2:30pm CST before a Senate Committee.
*The Mortgage Bankers Association will be out with some data on mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures at 9:30am CST.
*The weekly report on inventories of Natural Gas is due out at 9:30am CST, it is expected to show a decline of 233 bcf.
*The Fed is scheduled to buy Treasuries today that are due to mature between 5/15/18 and 2/15/21; the results of the operation will be announced just after 10:00am CST.
*The Treasury is expected to announce at 10:00am the details for next week’s auctions of 2 Year, 5 Year and 7 Year Notes.
*The Treasury plans to sell $9 billion 30 Year TIPS today; the results of the sale will be announced just after noon CST.
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